Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tweak Intel Graphics Netbook

Umumnya resolusi layar pada netbook adalah 1024 x 600, sementara kebanyakan games PC saat ini menggunakan resolusi minimal 1024 x 768. Seperti yang saya alami ketika mencoba menginstall The Sims 3 pada Netbook Asus 1005PX. Awalnya saya berpikir bahwa netbook ini tidak mampu menjalankan The Sims 3 karena keterbatasan hardware.



Asus EeePC 1005PX menggunakan Intel Atom 1.6 Ghz dengan memory bawaan 1 GB. Graphics card Intel GMA 3500 Series juga seharusnya cukup untuk menjalankan game ini.

Setelah mencari ke berbagai forum, ternyata keterbatasannya adalah resolusi yang tidak mendukung. Karena The Sims 3 membutuhkan minimal resolusi 1024 x 768.

Ternyata caranya cukup mudah untuk memaksa graphic card Intel untuk mencapai resolusi tersebut. Anda hanya perlu merubah registry pada Windows untuk memunculkan option pada pilihan resolusi.
Caranya adalah :
  1. Buka Registry Editor dengan cara ketik regedit pada search box di Start Menu.
  2. Tekan Ctrl F pada keyboard dan carilah key  “Display1_DownScalingSupported”
  3. Dobel klik pada string dan rubah nilai 0 menjadi 1
  4. tekan F3 untuk mencari key selanjutnya dan lakukan hal yang sama.
  5. Tutup jendela regedit dan restart komputer.
  6. Sekarang periksa pada pilihan resolusi layar dan pilih 1024 x 768.
Beberapa game yang membutuhkan resolusi 1024 x 768 akhirnya bisa saya jalankan. Cara ini juga berguna untuk memunculkan fungsi Metro UI pada Windows 8.

Kelemahan dari tweak ini, display pada netbook akan menjadi melebar (stretched). Namun itu tidak terlalu menjadi masalah jika anda tidak menggunakan netbook untuk menjalankan software yang membutuhkan detail presisi seperti CorelDraw, Photoshop atau AutoCAD.

Note : Cara ini tidak berlaku untuk Graphic AMD/ATI dan NVidia.

Picture courtesy of Intel.co.id

Friday, August 3, 2012

Playable Games on Asus Eee PC 1015BX

I have an Asus Eee PC 1015 BX with AMD C60 APU (Brazos), 2 GB DDR 3 memory and ATI Radeon 6290 Graphic Card chipset. Yes this is a netbook, but with that specification I believe this netbook can run some nice present games.



So I trying some games on this netbook, some can running smoothly and some not running at all.

Here the list of playable games running well on Asus Eee PC 1015 BX :

1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2012

I really love soccer game, so the first game I've been trying on this netbook was PES 2012. I didn't see any big difference when I set the game to low or high resolution. Still have a little lag on any moments. But it playable.

2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

I'm not satisfy with PES 2012, so I'm looking for another replacement. Trying Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 on it and still has lag. The only run smooth and responsive is Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.

3. Need For Speed Most Wanted

This game running very well on Asus Eee PC 1015 BX. No lag, no flickering, and still playable on the highest setting.

4. Need For Speed Shift 2 : Unleashed

This game is really heavy for any laptop today. Detail texture and amazing effect on this game make it requires high performance graphic card and processor. But I just want to try it on my Asus EeePC 1015BX. After more than an hour instalation, I try to play it. And surprise it's work. I can play this extreme game on Asus EeePC 1015BX with AMD C60 and ATI 6290. And for information, this game little bit slower and hard to control.

5. Prince of Persia : The Forgotten Sands

The most finest game I've been playing on Asus 1015BX. There is no lag, no frame skipping, everything just running fine. I play this until the end of game.

6. Tony Hawks Underground 2

It's running well, I have no issue with this game. Just install it and play.

7. Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 3

It has some lags when playing the video scene but really smooth on game play. When video scene it is load the game on the background. It makes the processor work so hard to load it together. But it's not a big deal, I still can play the game with good quality.

8. Assassin Creed

This is my favorite game. Assassin Creed running very well on Asus 1015BX. After installation finished, it will tell you that is not enough memories and processor. Just ignore this messages and run the game. I have no problem with it. But the other Assassin Creed series can't run on this netbook.
9. Assassin Creed 2
Assassin Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelation is also running well with low resolution. After I downgrade the operating system to Windows XP Professional SP3, I can play this game with high setting, but I set it to very low resolution to reduce processor work and more comfortable gameplay.
10. Far Cry 2
I has no problem playing Far Cry 2 on Asus EeePC 1015BX. This game is running smooth and no lag on medium graphic setting.
Note :
Some games won’t run on Windows 7, so I do downgrade my Asus EeePC 1015BX to Windows XP, overclocked it to 1,6 Ghz and add Gamebooster. Then BOOM you will impressed with this netbook performance.

Picture is taken from OnlySP